News

The Tottenham Tribute Trust

Posted on 6 June 2008
- 12:00

The bumper gate at the Lane for the friendly meeting with DC United on October 17, 2002, not only witnessed many Spurs greats taking to the pitch again but also helped to fund the creation of the Tottenham Tribute Trust.
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The bumper gate at the Lane for the friendly meeting with DC United on October 17, 2002, not only witnessed many Spurs greats taking to the pitch again but also helped to fund the creation of the Tottenham Tribute Trust.

The charitable organisation, initiated by the Club, has since helped many former players who have required financial assistance for mostly medical reasons and has recently been involved, as reported here on Wednesday, in providing support, with Gary Mabbutt, for Paul Gascoigne.

Gazza played his part against DC United, along with the likes of David Ginola and Jurgen Klinsmann on what was a memorable night of nostalgia in N17.

"The Club had been mulling over the idea of putting something formal in place to help former players who had fallen on hard times for quite some time," said TTT Chairman Jonathan Adelman, looking back on the conception of the Charity.

"The DC United game really brought it together with the collaboration between the Club and interested supporters. Within a couple of weeks a registered charity was created and the game arranged, which has since allowed us to distribute monies to beneficiaries.

"The gate money from the game provided our initial funds and, of course, Gazza played in that game and really helped us to raise the money. I don't think we imagined when we were setting up TTT that we would so soon be helping any of the players who were on the pitch that night.

"Ever since the extent of Gazza's illnesses came to light TTT has been working closely with Gary Mabbutt and all those who care about Gazza in order to provide him with the best treatment for his illnesses. Until now TTT has mainly provided assistance to former players suffering from physical illnesses or those in financial need but Gazza's situation is unique for TTT and we're being guided by the experts as to what can and should be done to help a man who gave an unbelievable amount of joy to so many people during his playing career, especially Spurs fans."

The TTT is currently run by six trustees and the aim of the group is to reach out to former employees of the Club who might be in difficulty.

"We are an independent charity working closely with the Club, who obviously help us with profile and funding," explained Jonathan. "Everyone we help has a connection with the Club and, even though we are independent, we see it very much as a collaborative effort.

"Our objective, as with many such charities, is to alleviate hardship and distress," added Jonathan, who went on to reveal that it is rarely the individual in need who makes contact with the organisation.

"We hear of cases where people need help through all sorts of different sources, primarily through former teammates, who let us know if one of their old team is perhaps experiencing medical problems.

"The key thing we need to do is get the message out among former players that we are here for them if they find themselves in need. Over the past 6 years since our creation TTT has helped many former players. Most of our work is by its nature confidential, but one of the first people we helped was Les Allen and he was happy for his case to be publicised in order for us to make other former players aware that we are there for them if they ever need similar help. Over the years we have been able to help former players with funding for medical procedures and we are also able to help meet household bills for example we know that keeping a home warm in winter can be a heavy financial burden for some of our older former players and we are able to help on that front.

"We are grateful for the support we receive via the Club and, especially at this time, we shall be looking at raising funds through various channels."